What is the Sir Matt Busby 'Believe' movie all about?

August 4, 2014

‘Believe’ is a fictional story about Sir Matt Busby which has been shown in a few cinemas up and down the country over the past week and is now available on DVD.

It is set in Manchester in the 1980’s and is based on Busby’s love for nurturing young talent and getting the best out of local lads on the football pitch. Having retired as United manager ten manager earlier and becoming weary with life without football, a challenge lands in his lap.

The main character, Georgie, is an 11-year-old scallywag who loves football and idolises Pele. After Georgie pinches Busby’s wallet the Scot tracks him down and discovers that the kid is a fantastic footballer. Busby says he won’t call the police if Georgie and his mates let him manage their team in a local cup competition. He even has them training with a grapefruit, instead of a football, to be more like Pele.

Throughout the film, Busby is plagued with flashbacks of the Busby Babes and of Munich, with references to Duncan Edwards, Tommy Taylor and Roger Byrne.

The film is a really nice story which shows Busby in a great light, true to what he stood for, as a manager who wanted to make young boys’ dreams come true.

Reports from Italy in Gazzetta dello Sport claim that Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado is due to hold talks with club president Andrea Della Valle over his future this week. - Cant see him coming here, he cant play as a wing back I wouldnt have thought and this system does not allow for wingers.

Tuttosport are claiming Juventus have madeHernandez their top target as they look to bring in a new striker. - If he does move which is looking likely Juve would be a good move for him.

Gazzetta dello Sport are claiming Napoli are confident of securing a loan deal for Fellaini - They should either show us the cash or piss off, whats the point in a loan deal?

The blurb on the the poster should read: "Football fans will love this... But Manchester United fans from Manchester and Salford, and of a certain age, won't..."

A gifted, but troubled, kid called Georgie? How original... There was only ever one Georgie, for a kick off... All that schmaltzy Billy Elliot type bollocks should have nothing to do with MUFC or the Busby legacy... What's next? The fucking musical, with a script by Ben Elton?!

People will romanticize and take in this sugary shit. Yet our beloved club is still being taken up the arse by the Gimps (89 million?! You thieving bastards!), yet most say and do nothing... Do you think that is what Sir Matt built United for, or what he would have wanted?

Dude,let it go with the misplaced nostalgia. Manchester United is the best run football club in the world and is also the most stable. That's a fact. If Matt Busby had other intentions for the club then I don't know how noble they could have been if he were to look at us now and be disappointed. No one is stealing money from anyone. No one is burdening the club with anything. We are headed in the right direction and have nothing but good news for the future. This whole myth of a club in disarray and in abuse is not only misguided but indicative of fans who only want to be pessimistic. Since the days of Matt Busby,Manchester United has never experienced a richer decade on and off the pitch and yet people only want to talk about non existent doom. Geez. Do you guys want the profits of the club to be given to your relatives or something? It's a business.

@Tommy

On Cuadrado,I kinda agree. To be honest,I'm not so sure what the big fuss about him is,but that's football. In any case,the fact that we are using "5 defenders" as LVG puts it,is because of our unbalanced team. We have too many wide and attacking options. I wouldn't trade him for any of our players apart from Young really. From what I'm seeing and hearing from Van Gaal,we are not likely to get anything more than one player more. Most likely a defender. Given how straightforward the guy is,it's really starting to look like the case. I see mostly transfers out here. Hernandez,Kagawa,Nani,Zaha and Anderson all have less than a 30% chance of staying. Cleverely will stay,because you cannot do without squad players. Fellaini will stay because he hasn't been given a proper chance since he came. Young will stay because he has been the best player so far. But the tricky part obviously is the forward line up. RVP will be eased into the team and that means we will have Welbeck,Rooney and Mata definitely starting but with Hernandez gone and RVP unfit,who will cover for them,seeing that Zaha,Kagawa and Nani are on the way out too? I'm really scratching my head on that one

Not that I am defending the Glazers, but people need to know that even before they took over, money was being taken out of the club in terms of dividends to the shareholders of the PLC. So it is nothing new

2. Taught A, B, C, D of football to Jose Naughty Mourinho who managed to learned only defensive tactics unfortunately for him.

3. Pep Guardiola learned a lot from the Great Louis. His jaws dropped when he saw the Great Ajax side play coached by King Louis.

4. Frank Rijkaard also got a chance to manage Barca.

5. Clarence Seedorf got a chance to manage AC Milan.

6. De Boer is managing Ajax applying King Louis philosophy.

7. Brendan Rodgers got Liverpool into CL playing good football. Mind you, Rodgers is only a grand student of King Louis who is taught by Mourinho who learned from King Louis. Rodgers translated the football philosophy of King Louis from Dutch to English and was scared he will be found out if King Louis was appointed DoF of Liverpool. Lucky us!

9. LVG laid the tactical foundations and structure for Bayern Munich thus the new German football.

10. King Louis transformed the Dutch mentality by introducing switching of 3-5-2 and 4-3-3 at the same time playing positive football is possible. He basically opened the door for all the Dutch coaches to think outside the box re systems or formations. A blend of realistic football and idealistic football.

Interesting read. And the point about many contracts expiring in 2016 makes the coming season huge. If we fail to qualify for the CL this season, one can imagine the agents of those players asking for more money to stay. Unthinkable, but entirely possible.

Yes. And people should also understand that there's nothing wrong with money being taken out of a business by it's investors. It happens in every other business in the whole world. The other alternative would be to keep piling up income in cash reserves for no purpose except to please ignorant people and say "hey look Pessimists. We have accumulated £2bn in cash so far. We shall not pay dividends,we shall use it to buy 356 players this summer".

@reddevil

If that list is accurate,it really is very interesting. For instance,how is Ashley Young on a higher wage than Michael Carrick? I guess it's all about negotiation and fortune.

moyes wasn't the biggest problem last year, the biggest problem was the squad was ageing and moyes couldn't cope with that. Now that the older ones have moved on van gaal has got a group that is younger and eager to learn, not saying that moyes wasn't shit, but think the job of rebuilding from last years squad was a lot more difficult especially without new signings. Anyways onwards and upwards. In king louis we trust

Theoretically yes. But I just don't see us failing to make the top four. In fact I think we have a very material chance of winning the league this season. I really believe we will. But it does make it tricky with the contract situation. I think we have a bunch of players that really want to stay. You look at the ones most likely to leave: Kagawa,Nani,Hernandez and all of them will most likely leave for a team competing in the CL but I haven't seen any of them angling for a move yet. Mostly just silent. Hernandez and Kagawa could both go to Atletico Madrid for instance and they can be sure they are going to be competing for every trophy. If they do stay,I just don't see them making contract extension issues a mess. Nani maybe. He really should leave. Sometimes you fall victim to various other issues that have little to do with you and maybe you should just let it go. Whenever he has been played consistently he has played really well. But Valencia's versatility has seen Nani sidelined and injuries as well. The few games he has played,he has been under incredible pressure to perform brilliantly and that is a bit unfair,given the limited and sporadic and random patterns used to select him. So I think he should look to go to a club that values him as a player and that desperately need his services. Juventus is a good spot for United rejects it seems and if they really want him,Vidal or no Vidal we should release him

Agree with your points. I too habour believe that we can do well in the league. But we could still run into trouble if our defenders run into injury problems for key games.

It seems improbable that the said players will raise issues when negotiating contracts, but we are talking about unchartered ground here, a situation we have never faced before, where we miss out on CL for a second term. Nothing must be taken for granted, hence we should really go all out to recruit if LVG asks for it, else the after effects might snowball. Spend the money now, or face spending more on wages for an extended period

Sorry mate there was nothing wrong with the squad. Every squad is aging. There's nothing new about that. Rio Ferdinand being the eldest,hardly ever played under Moyes but was United's best defender in Ferguson's last season. Man City have Kompany above 30. Chelsea had Terry,Lampard,Cole,Eto'o. We had Carrick,Vidic,Rio,Evra,RVP,Giggs and Fletcher in their 30's. Only two of them were not squad players under Moyes. Also,RVP is still the league's best striker with Suarez gone despite his age. You can't have an entire squad of under 30's. It's not practical. Being over 30 is not equivalent to losing form. Moyes failed because he was incompetent and that's it. We should have won the league with that squad. Players like Robben,Ribery,Pepe,Iniesta,Andrea Pirlo,Phillip Lahm are the key players at their clubs and completely undroppable as Mourinho would say but are all in their 30's. Carrick is 33 today but there's no difference in terms of style or physicality when he was 26. His game is based on passing and positioning and he still does it well. Vidic is around the same age as Kompany and Pepe and is still a better defender than many under 30's. Players that rely on speed are the ones that normally suffer with age if they can't reinvent themselves. But you'd be hard pressed to find a faster,stronger and more athletic player than Patrice Evra today. He is still one of the best LB's around. There's no excuse here. Moyes failed to simply progress champions to the next phase. People keep claiming that Evra had lost it but it had more to do with tactical adaptation. We lost our defensive edge in 2009 due to tactical issues. Carrick should have remained a deep lying midfielder and we ought to have abandoned the 4-4-2 and it's wide variants. Because of this,we had fullbacks like Evra who can run up and down the flank for 90min but the minute he gets caught out close to the opposition's goal,racing back is a nightmare. But when Carrick was playing the holding mid role or the double pivot with Scholes,there was cover for the fullbacks to advance without leaving massive gaps behind.

The two key players since 2006 have been Evra and Carrick. They have played probably over 90% of the games since then. Yes we needed new players to replace Scholes and Hargreaves in particular, but Moyes had that chance and he wasted it with the lack of decision making. Besides,his inability to even get more than one player out of the entire squad playing well is indicative of his incompetence. Only Rooney benefited from the reign of horror of David Moyes. Everyone else did not play well so it's wrong to blame age which seems not to affect every other team. In fact the only position Ferguson did not cover was CM. I think he placed a lot of trust in both Cleverly and Anderson that he felt it wasn't necessary to replace Scholes via transfers. In every other position I think we were well covered. Our deficiencies were grossly overrated as is the case with United fans. There's nothing positive about our squad. If Moyes had played to our strengths which is what any logical person does,he would not have had so many problems. We have the best attack line up in the league hands down. Solidify the defensive system and let the attackers attack. 4-4-2 was the absolute wrong system to use given the players we had. Kagawa,Rooney,Welbeck,RVP,Januzaj,Young,Nani,Hernandez,Valencia and Mata. All of them want to start and can make a good case to do so. Yet only two of them are proper 4-4-2 wingers. So why choose that system. If our weakness is midfield then we clearly need numbers there. 4-3-3,Christmas Tree, 4-5-1 or any other narrow formation. You know Carrick,Fletcher and Fellaini can all play deep roles so play with at least one DM in front of a back 4. Or even two DMs. You have 4 attacking midfielders,so play at least two of them ahead of the midfield. Kagawa,Mata or Januzaj supporting Rooney and RVP your best forwards. Or play Mata,Rooney,Kagawa/Nani/Valencia/AJ behind RVP. Simple. Yet Moyes insisted on making all our attacking midfielders wingers. That is inefficient management

This is the exact reason why LVG is using this system. We have too many quality attackers and so he has to manage the situation by playing a system that utilises our best players. In his 5-3-2 system,you see we have numbers centrally and dynamism out wide. Three dedicated defenders supported on either side by wingbacks(Shaw,Young,Valencia,Rafael)with a DM(Fletcher/Cleverly so far) and a highly mobile CM(Herrera,Kagawa,Cleverly) and one CAM (Mata,Kagawa) supporting two forwards (Rooney,Welbeck,Zaha,Chicharito). This system will not compromise defensive solidity and it will also take advantage of the qualities of players like Mata,Kagawa,Rooney and Januzaj in their most effective roles. If you play Kagawa or Mata as wingers you might as well sell them. They need to be central and not focus on defensive duties and this was one of Moyes' biggest failures

@ mirainashe and Tywin; you 've both spoken brilliantly. That's why he should be addressed as 'Lord moyes'. He fucked us up big time and ran to get the galatasaray job..lol even the apalling turkish league outfit turned him down. Hahahaha.

Miranashe:Of courses there's nothing wrong with taking money out of a business but football is more than just A Burger King or MacDonalds it's a way of life for generations of fans.Man Utd may be just about the bottom line to some folk but to others it's history.
The owners have made a lot of money off of United how bout investing just a little more.And if it is just a business the owners won't care what happens to the future of the club as long as they make money,that's business after all.

I personally wouldn't be too bothered if we got Vidal or not. I'd be happy with Hummels and Vermaelen. And I'd keep squad players for the CM position so LVG can rotate them and keep them fresh so they can just be the workaholics in the team. Like rotating Fletcher Cleverley Anderson Carrick and Fellaini (which ever of then stay) alongside either Kagawa or Herrera.

Someone mentioned Cleverley Fellaini and Young will stay for certain reasons and I agree.

Quite simply we need Kagawa because if something happens to Mata we need him. Also our midfield duo seems to be a energetic player (fletcher) and a creative player (Herrera). If Herrera was to get injured too Kagawa would be the only one able to fulfill his role.

We need 4 strikers because if you're using a formation which involves two strikers you need backup for both. And besides I think we have the perfect four. They all add different dimensions to our game.

We need all those defenders just to make up numbers. Our current 3 senior ones are injury prone. Hummels is world class but we still can't rely on him to hit the ground running. Vermaelen we need mostly as a leader and he's a great organiser but he's also injury prone. This is why we have the two young lads as backup and for rotation because our CB's are bound to get injured at some point. Just imagine if 2/3 were to be gone at the same time??

I'd also like to see Jesse Lingard given a chance with the first team.

And if either one of Fellaini/Cleverley were also shipped out of the squad I wouldn't be too bothered.

@Mark Reid
"Of courses there’s nothing wrong with taking money out of a business but football is more than just A Burger King or MacDonalds it’s a way of life for generations of fans.Man Utd may be just about the bottom line to some folk but to others it’s history."

I'm not sure what you're on about tbh. The "owners" as you call them have not compromised the traditions or history of the club. They have not interfered with anything. They have not imposed anything on the club. You're just getting emotional over things which don't exist. You're talking about investment. I don't know what United you follow but the Manchester United I know have had Old Trafford expanded and revamped. The training centre has been massively upgraded,scouting networks have been expanded. We have got the best deals in terms of kits and equipment. The managers from Ferguson to LVG have been backed in the market to get the players THEY (not the fans with their fantasy football dreams) wanted. So what should be invested in? Do you want them to build a new "spare" stadium or what? People should learn to give it a rest. People who criticize the Glazer ownership do so for no logical reason except mob mentality. You ask people what they are actually bothered by and you find it's all conspiracies and thorough ignorance

My bad on Kompany. On Kagawa,yes I agree if something happens to Mata we would need back up. However,Kagawa in my view is good enough to start behind the main striker for any team out there. Well at least most top teams. It would be terrible if all he becomes is cover for Mata. This has been the biggest problem since he came to United. No one trusts him with that role,so why buy him. He was the best in Germany in that position so if we can't trust him there,then I'm sure there are plenty of decent clubs willing to give him that starting spot. For all we know,Mata could spend the rest of the season fit and then there's Rooney. We have to release him if he is not good enough to start.

On the issue of four strikers,that is just asking too much. Both Welbeck and Chicharito have complained about not being given the trust for that striker role. In the latter's case,how long should we expect to keep him in that super sub role? It has affected his international career too and he seems pretty sad. At least one of them should go. The second problem is similar to the first. With four strikers,the back up guys will face a serious uphill battle to play a single game. The lack of Europe makes it even worse because our matches are very limited. Rooney and RVP look almost certain to be our starters alongside Mata. That leaves Kagawa,Welbeck,Hernandez,Januzaj and Nani jostling for the positions. it's too many quality players for backup versus very few games. And that's a problem. This also means we can completely forget ever seeing players from the reserves or Academy in these positions. People tend to underestimate the damage done by Moyes at United. This issue of balance is a very tricky situation. For players like Kagawa to stay,then LVG has to find a way of playing them in the same starting eleven as RVP,Mata and Rooney. That seems impossible in my book. The problem will never go away. You see it's the same for Kagawa as every other time. People are saying he has to take his chance and perform but it's not as simple as that. He won't get that chance,without being played out of position or from the bench. And as Chicharito's case has proven time and again,performing well from the bench will not guarantee a starting spot. It's not as simple as it looks. Kagawa,Nani and Chicharito should be released for the sake of their careers

And......the thing to consider is none of our primary transfer targets (rumoured!) such as Vidal, Hummels, Blind, Varmaleen, Cuadrado have been swayed to come out and make public statements in favour of their current club. You know, the promise or confirmation that they are staying where they are! Good sign for United fans I reckon.

I beleive we have put on a huge salary package plus solid fees to agents "at first". This is the brilliant way to conduct transfer business imo. The reason is when we put on huge salary package better than others for a particular player and manage to sway their agents in our favour we can not only reduce the asking price of the selling club but far importantly we can outbid the rival clubs for getting the concerned player.

Look at Florentino Perez way of conducting transfer business and Suarez transfer to Barca, they seem to sway the player's agent first thus the player and then ENFORCE the transfer. Recently Perez was photographed having lunch with Jorge Mendes which is seemingly normal but he uses super agents like Mendes for players ins or outs when there is transfer deadlock like in Di Maria case or to get players like Falcao.

The way Hummels, Vidal and Cuadrado are silent and unwilling to deny link with us suggest atleast to me that Woodward "WATCH THIS SPACE" might be born out of the understanding to play with the dirty tricks prevalent in player transfers and used by Spanish duo for a long long time.

Thanks for reviewing the film. Me n my lad are stretty enders n he was one of the main characters in the film (scored the equaliser in the final). The scenes with the babes r emotional n it was gr8 2 hear Sandy Busby so positive about the film.
Cheers